


california dreamin'

by alessandriana



Category: Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel (Comics), Young Avengers
Genre: F/M, Fluff, TommyKate Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-17
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2018-06-02 20:19:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6580777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alessandriana/pseuds/alessandriana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He was grinning and windblown, green eyes sparkling in the light of a sunny Californian afternoon-- he looked good. He leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on another. Visible just above his sock was a line of fresh bruises, like something had wrapped around his ankle and yanked <i>hard</i>. Typical Tommy. He hadn't been able to give up the superhero lifestyle any more than she had. She didn't mention it, just like he didn't mention her almost-faded black eye.</p><p>(Blatant fluff. Set sometime during Fraction's <i>Hawkeye</i> run, but before YA Vol 2.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	california dreamin'

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Kate/Tommy Week 2016.

"Well, well. If it isn't Kate Bishop." Someone dropped into the chair next to her; Kate startled upright, nearly knocking her coffee cup over. She'd been nursing her fourth free refill like it was the only thing keeping her upright, which, technically, was pretty accurate.

She had to blink through the bleariness to focus on her new seat mate, but when she registered who it was, her eyes flew open and she sat up straight in her chair, as awake as she'd been in the last thirty-six hours. "Tommy! What the hell are you doing here?" she asked, unable to keep the delight out of her voice. It'd been _months_.

He was grinning and windblown, green eyes sparkling in the light of a sunny Californian afternoon-- he looked good. He leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on another. The soles of his shoes were so thin they were nearly see-through, and the cuffs of his jeans were frayed. Typical Tommy; he ran through clothing incredibly fast. Visible just above his sock was a line of fresh bruises, like something had wrapped around his ankle and yanked _hard_. Also, unfortunately, typical Tommy. He hadn't been able to give up the superhero lifestyle any more than she had. She didn't mention it, just like he didn't mention her almost-faded black eye.

He shrugged and said breezily, "Eh, I was in the area." He turned the question around on her so quickly it was barely apparent he was dodging the question. "What about you? Staying... well caffeinated?" His brows drew together as he noticed the copious discarded sugar and creamer packets covering the surface of her table. Her coffee cup was so old it was starting to get soggy, and the proprietor had been giving her nasty looks for the last half hour or so. Kate was hanging on, though.

"I'm working," she sighed. She nodded at the building across the street, the entrance of which was easily visible through the large plate glass windows. "And I mean _working_ working, not superhero stuff. Your garden variety cheating case. Wife wants proof he's diddling a coworker."

Tommy snorted. "'Diddling?' You're really getting into the private eye schtick. What's next, a grimy office with frosted glass doors? A femme fatale on your arm?" 

Kate pressed a hand to her heart. "Ex _cuse_ you, I _am_ the femme fatale." A grin flashed quick across Tommy's face, and he didn't try to deny it. Kate continued, "I've been following him since he left home this morning. He was _supposed_ to go on a business trip to Nevada. Instead he came here, and hasn't come out since. So I get to wait until he emerges, I guess, or the coworker shows up."

Tommy frowned, getting caught up in spite of himself. "You think he's still in there? He hasn't gone out the back or anything?"

Kate tilted her phone so he could see. "I've got a camera set up on both entrances; the feed comes straight to my phone. He hasn't gone that way." She groaned and dropped her head onto her arms. "And I was up until five am last night working another case... I'm so _tired_."

Tommy leaned back in his chair and shrugged. "So get some sleep."

"I can't," Kate nearly wailed, tears of exhaustion prickling at her eyelashes. "If I don't get those photos, I don't get paid! And if I don't get paid I don't eat!" Needing to actually work for money was _hard_ , dammit. She'd earned a newfound appreciation for everyone who had real jobs.

Tommy reached over and slid her phone and camera over to him. "Look, I'll keep an eye out, alright? Take a nap."

"But--" Kate didn't know what to say. She looked over at the counter, where the owner was still glaring at her. "They're not going to let me stay if I fall asleep," she protested.

Tommy threw the proprietor a bright grin over his shoulder; it was hard to tell from this distance, but Kate thought she was flushing. "Let me deal with her," he said, waggling his eyebrows at Kate.

"Are you sure--" She felt bad. "You just _got_ here. I haven't seen you in forever." He probably hadn't come here to watch her sleep, right? Her eyelids were already drooping, though.

The smile he shot her was smaller than the dazzling one he'd used on the woman behind the counter, but it was better somehow. More private. "It's fine. Go to sleep, Katie."

Her head dropped onto her crossed arms. As she drifted off, she thought she felt a hand on her head, stroking her hair.

***

When she woke up again, Tommy was gone.

She spent a moment battling a sense of betrayal. Why hadn't he woken her up when he'd gone? She had no idea if her target was still in the building or not-- if he'd left and she'd missed it, the whole day would have been wasted, and she'd have to go through the whole damn thing again the next time the guy went on a 'business trip'. Pick up his trail again--

Footsteps by her chair, and she looked up to see the proprietor holding a fresh cup of coffee. "For you," she said. Up close, she looked tired as Kate had felt. She didn't seem angry at Kate for taking up the table. Maybe the glaring had been all in Kate's head; sleep-deprivation induced paranoia.

Kate took the cup automatically, but said, "I didn't order this."

"Your cute boyfriend did," the woman said with a faint smile. Kate thought about arguing with the descriptor, decided it wasn't worth the effort. "Said to give it to you when you woke up. Also, he told me to make sure you saw that." She pointed at the napkin by Kate's elbow, which now that she was paying attention, had a note scrawled across it in black ink, handwriting barely legible.

_sorry I had to run, had somewhere to be. check the memory card on your camera_

Puzzled, she picked up her camera. She exclaimed softly as she flipped to the first photo. It was a picture of the alley behind the building, where the back door was. Her target was exiting, holding the door open for someone else.

The next photo was of the coworker he'd been accused of cheating with coming out the door. Her back was to the camera, and it looked like she was holding something in her arms.

In the third photo, she'd turned towards the camera to kiss her target, revealing the thing she was holding... was a baby? "Holy shit," Kate said, delighted and horrified at the same time. She reached for her coffee and took a gulp. Wow, was this ever what she'd been looking for. And it was better quality than she'd ever have gotten on her cheap security camera. Tommy must have seen them coming out on it and run out with the camera to take the photos. "Tommy, I could kiss you."

"You get what you needed?" the proprietor asked; she had been looking at the photos over Kate's shoulder.

"I got _exactly_ what I needed," she said. "This is _perfect_." She grinned up at the woman.

"Great," she said, and added with a pointed quirk of the brow, "Now finish up that coffee, and maybe when you're done you can give me back my table, alright?"

Kate grinned up at her, a little rueful. "Right. Sorry."

As Kate drank, she flipped through the rest of the photos. A few more of the two love birds making out, the man pressing a goodbye kiss to the baby's forehead, and then the man got into his car and left-- back home to his wife, presumably-- and the woman went back into the building.

The last photo was different. Taken back in the coffee shop, it was Tommy making a face into the camera, grinning with his tongue stuck out, white hair a tangled mess from running. Kate herself was just visible in the background of the selfie, head pillowed on her arms as she slept. Tommy was holding up a note scribbled on a napkin.

 _good seeing you, Katiedid,_ it read. _call me or something_. _ttyl!!!_

Kate laughed, and pulled out her phone. _Good seeing you, too,_ she texted him back, smiling around the warm curl of fondness in her chest. _stop by anytime._

 

 


End file.
